South Sudan’s National Security Service (NSS) on Sunday stormed and shut down the offices of Radio Jonglei 95.9 FM in Bor, forcefully ejecting staff, detaining a journalist, and suspending all broadcasts — actions carried out without any official explanation.
Eyewitnesses at the scene described a dramatic and chaotic raid as security agents entered the station’s premises, ordered all personnel to leave, locked the building, and abruptly cut off the station’s live broadcast.
“We were caught completely off guard,” said one staff member, speaking on condition of anonymity. “They didn’t give us a chance to explain anything. They just chased us out and locked the studio.”
On Monday, the NSS summoned four staff members, including the station’s Managing Director Tijwog Agwet, for questioning. One journalist, identified as Deng John, was briefly detained.
While no official reason has been provided, sources close to the matter suggest the action may be linked to recent programming aired by the station, which allegedly included “war songs” tied to ongoing intercommunal violence in the disputed Buothagany fishing island between the Ayual community of Twic East County and the Hol community of Duk County.
Jonglei State Minister of Information, Nyamar Lony, played down the situation, calling it “a small matter” that would “be resolved tomorrow.”
This is not the first time Radio Jonglei has come under government pressure. In 2022, the station was temporarily taken off air for failing to broadcast a speech by the former state governor — an action that sparked both national and international condemnation and was quickly reversed.
The South Sudan Media Authority, the regulatory body overseeing broadcast operations, has not yet commented on the latest incident. Repeated efforts to reach its managing director, Elijah Alier, were unsuccessful.
In the meantime, press freedom organizations and human rights groups have strongly condemned the NSS’s actions, calling the raid a dangerous attack on independent journalism and a violation of constitutional media rights.
This is a developing story.